Simon Norfolk
A view of Kabul city centre from Bala Burj.

A view of Kabul city centre from Bala Burj.

© Simon Norfolk / Gallery Luisotti

A view of Kabul city centre from Bala Burj.
A view of Kabul city centre from Bala Burj.
ArtistBritish, born Nigeria, 1963
CultureBritish
Titles
  • A view of Kabul city centre from Bala Burj.
  • from the portfolio Burke + Norfolk: Photographs from the War in Afghanistan
Date2010–2011, printed September 2011
Place depictedKabul, Afghanistan
MediumChromogenic print
DimensionsImage: 14 5/16 × 19 1/8 in. (36.4 × 48.5 cm)
 Sheet: 15 × 20 in. (38.1 × 50.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Morris Weiner
Object number2016.224.49
Not on view

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Department
Photography
Object Type
ProvenanceThe artist; [Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, California]; purchased by Morris Weiner, Houston, 2012; given to MFAH, 2016.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Stamped in black ink, verso, lower right: Burke + Norfolk // Photographs from the war in Afghanistan // by John Burke and Simon Norfolk // Printed by Simon Norfolk, September 2011 // An archival, digital, chromogenic print on Fujicolor Crystal Archive // Photograph by Simon Norfolk [signed in pencil over a stamped underline] // One of 104 prints in a Burke + Norfolk portfolio special edition // Edition number 1 of eight [1 is handwritten in pencil over a stamped underline]
Norfolk prints are signed and numbered on verso lower right, within artist's stamp

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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‘Radio TV Mountain’ in the centre of Kabul seen from where the Kabul River cuts through the mountains creating the Deh Mazang gorge. In the First Anglo-Afghan War it was the site of a crucial skirmish and hasty retreat by badly outnumbered British cavalry who had blundered into the midst of a massive Afghan army.
Simon Norfolk
‘Radio TV Mountain’ in the centre of Kabul seen from where the Kabul River cuts through the mountains creating the Deh Mazang gorge. In the First Anglo-Afghan War it was the site of a crucial skirmish and hasty retreat by badly outnumbered British cavalry who had blundered into the midst of a massive Afghan army.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.3
At Wasalabad high above West Kabul. It has taken 26 men from the Mine Detection Centre and four de-mining dogs more than three months to clear mines from an area the size of a few soccer pitches. Kabul’s rapid expansion has increased pressure for building land. Mined areas that were once marginal are now in demand for house construction.
Simon Norfolk
At Wasalabad high above West Kabul. It has taken 26 men from the Mine Detection Centre and four de-mining dogs more than three months to clear mines from an area the size of a few soccer pitches. Kabul’s rapid expansion has increased pressure for building land. Mined areas that were once marginal are now in demand for house construction.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.44
A de-mining team from the Mine Detection Centre in Kabul with a member of the German Police who is mentoring them.
Simon Norfolk
A de-mining team from the Mine Detection Centre in Kabul with a member of the German Police who is mentoring them.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.52
Wasteland at the back of shops used as stabling for draft horses. In the distance is the Bala Hissar citadel, now home to an Afghan Army base and mooring for one of the American blimps that carry electronic surveillance gear and cameras.
Simon Norfolk
Wasteland at the back of shops used as stabling for draft horses. In the distance is the Bala Hissar citadel, now home to an Afghan Army base and mooring for one of the American blimps that carry electronic surveillance gear and cameras.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.10
‘The Museum Of The Jihad’ in Herat. In the centre of the tableau of anti-Soviet mujahedeen guerrillas is Ismail Khan, one-time Governor of Herat and minister in the national government. Mythologising their role in the Jihad helps justify their control and ownership of Afghanistan’s modern warlord economy.
Simon Norfolk
‘The Museum Of The Jihad’ in Herat. In the centre of the tableau of anti-Soviet mujahedeen guerrillas is Ismail Khan, one-time Governor of Herat and minister in the national government. Mythologising their role in the Jihad helps justify their control and ownership of Afghanistan’s modern warlord economy.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.12
Shah-do-Shamshira Mosque was built in the 1920s on the site of one of Kabul’s first mosques, the Mosque of the King with Two Swords, named in honour of an early Muslim king who died fighting Hindu invaders.
Simon Norfolk
Shah-do-Shamshira Mosque was built in the 1920s on the site of one of Kabul’s first mosques, the Mosque of the King with Two Swords, named in honour of an early Muslim king who died fighting Hindu invaders.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.5
Jawad, who like many Afghans uses just the one name, out playing with an old tyre in the Mikrorayon district of Kabul.
Simon Norfolk
Jawad, who like many Afghans uses just the one name, out playing with an old tyre in the Mikrorayon district of Kabul.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.2
Some of the nonsensical property development taking place in Kabul. This district of the city, Karte Char Chateh, is remembered by Kabulis as that part of the bazaar which was burned by the British in 1842 as collective punishment for the killing of the British Envoy. The fires still burned when the British retreated two days later.
Simon Norfolk
Some of the nonsensical property development taking place in Kabul. This district of the city, Karte Char Chateh, is remembered by Kabulis as that part of the bazaar which was burned by the British in 1842 as collective punishment for the killing of the British Envoy. The fires still burned when the British retreated two days later.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.7
Unfinished, speculative property development near Kabul Airport.
Simon Norfolk
Unfinished, speculative property development near Kabul Airport.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.30
Kabul ‘Pizza Express’ restaurant behind the municipal bus depot.
Simon Norfolk
Kabul ‘Pizza Express’ restaurant behind the municipal bus depot.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.27
The peripheries of the city of Kabul, especially to the north and east are endless building sites. Since most of the documentation concerning land title was lost during the war, much of this speculative and illegal construction is concerned more with establishing undisputable ‘facts on the ground’. Apartments and shops are, almost exclusively, unoccupied.
Simon Norfolk
The peripheries of the city of Kabul, especially to the north and east are endless building sites. Since most of the documentation concerning land title was lost during the war, much of this speculative and illegal construction is concerned more with establishing undisputable ‘facts on the ground’. Apartments and shops are, almost exclusively, unoccupied.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.24
The whole eastern side of Kabul, for miles along both sides of Jalalabad Road is one huge logistics yard capable of supplying the foreign military and rapidly growing embassies with everything they might need from a single cup of coffee right through to an entire airstrip.
Simon Norfolk
The whole eastern side of Kabul, for miles along both sides of Jalalabad Road is one huge logistics yard capable of supplying the foreign military and rapidly growing embassies with everything they might need from a single cup of coffee right through to an entire airstrip.
2010–2011, printed September 2011
Chromogenic print
2016.224.21